The present invention relates generally to digital imaging devices, and more particularly to a method and system for integrating an application user interface with a digital camera user interface.
Most digital cameras today are similar in size to and behave like conventional point-and-shoot cameras. Unlike conventional cameras, however, most digital cameras store digital images in an internal flash memory or on external memory cards, and some are equipped with a liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen on the back of the camera. Through the use of the LCD, most digital cameras operate in two modes, record and play, although some only have a record mode. In record mode, the LCD is used as a viewfinder in which the user may view an object or scene before taking a picture. In play mode, the LCD is used as a playback screen for allowing the user to review previously captured images either individually or in arrays of four, nine, or sixteen images.
Digital camera user interfaces typically include a number of buttons or switches for setting the camera into one of the two modes and for navigating between images in play mode. One type of camera, for instance, includes two navigation buttons labeled xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c+xe2x80x9d, a mode button, a display button, a zoom button and a delete button. Play mode for this camera begins with a default screen displaying a full-sized individual image. Other images stored in the camera may then be displayed in a backward or forward sequence by pressing the xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c+xe2x80x9d navigation buttons, respectively. Pressing the mode button during play mode causes four images to be displayed in a 2xc3x972 array, and pressing the mode button again causes nine images to be displayed in a 3xc3x973 array. The user can then xe2x80x9cpagexe2x80x9d through screens of image arrays by pressing the navigation buttons, or the user can move from image to image in the arrays by first pressing the display button and then traversing across the images in the rows of the arrays using the navigation buttons. The user may have the full-sized image displayed of a chosen image by pressing the zoom button or can delete the image by pressing the delete button.
Although digital cameras that have both a record mode and a play mode are more versatile than digital cameras having only the record mode, two mode digital cameras suffer from several disadvantages associated with the camera""s user interface. One disadvantage is that having only two modes means that either the camera only has a limited number of functions, or that several functions must be accessed in play mode since the record mode only has one function, capturing images. The disadvantages of having several functions in one mode is that the functions may have to be accessed through multiple levels of navigation screens, which complicates the operability of the camera.
Another disadvantage of conventional cameras is that the operation of user interface is non-intuitive, especially for the novice user. The user interface is non-intuitive because the operation of the user interface across different modes and/or navigation screens is inconsistent. Accessing most features in the two mode camera described above, for instance, requires that the user press the keys of the interface in a certain sequence. Each of these key sequences may be different depending on which play-mode navigation screen is displayed, the navigation screen showing individual images or the navigation screen showing arrays of images. For example, the function of the display button changes when the navigation screens change, and in some situations where the display button has been depressed, the mode button either becomes inoperable or the functionality of mode button becomes mutually exclusive with the functionality of the zoom button. Furthermore, because each navigation screen has a different key sequence, it is not obvious to the user how to exit that screen or how to choose a particular function. Thus, this type of user interface requires that the user memorize a different key sequence for each navigation screen before being able to effectively operate the camera.
A further disadvantage of conventional digital-camera user-interfaces is that the camera is capable of displaying only the images themselves, or a combination of an image and its image number. The user interface is either incapable of delivering further information regarding displayed images and the camera features, or accessing such information requires the user to enter another non-intuitive and complicated key sequence.
The assignee of the present application has developed a software-based digital camera architecture in which the basic functionality of the camera is controlled by an operating system. The use of the operating system inside the camera provides several significant advantages, one of which is that application programs may be loaded and run on the camera. Some of the applications envisioned to run on the digital camera may originate from the personal computer (PC) environment, such as imaging editing functions found in programs like Adobe Photoshop, for instance, and frame effects found in a number of different programs, such as Quark Express, which allow users to apply frames to pages and images.
Although such application programs exists in the PC environment, the use of such programs in digital cameras is precluded due to their nature and design. Most PC imaging applications are designed for the most part for professionals and are full of imaging features and effects. This makes the programs extremely large and memory intensive, which is unsuitable for use in digital cameras which have severe memory constraints.
And since the user interfaces of such programs are designed for use by professionals, their user interfaces are not very intuitive. Most imaging application user interfaces are highly complex and have a laborious way for users to apply imaging effects to images by opening dialog boxes, entering dialogs, and entering desired parameters and so on for each chosen effect. Each of these actions is all but impossible in digital cameras not only because of limited memory, but also because of the small size of the displays found on digital cameras.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved user interface for a multi-mode digital camera. What is also needed is an improved interface for application programs running on the camera that is sufficiently intuitive and simple to allow operation by the general public. The present invention addresses these needs.
The present invention provides a method and system for integrating a user interface across multiple operating modes of a digital imaging device wherein mode-specific items are displayed on a display when the digital imaging device is placed into a particular operating mode. The digital imaging device includes a first and a second navigation button for interacting with the operating modes, where the first navigation button has a first orientation and the second navigation button has a second orientation. The method includes the step of mapping an aligned set of mode-specific items in the display to the orientation of the first navigation button. After the mode-specific items are displayed, the user scrolls from one mode-specific item to the next in the aligned set by pressing the first navigation button, and the display indicates which of the mode-specific items is a currently active item. After a mode-specific item becomes the active item, additional information is displayed corresponding to the currently active item in the display in a location that is offset from the active item in a direction of orientation corresponding to that of the second button. In certain modes, the additional information includes a list of information items that is displayed in an alignment corresponding to the orientation of the second button, wherein the user can scroll through the list of information items using the second navigation button.
In a second aspect of the present invention, the method and system integrate a user interface of an application program with the user interface of the digital imaging device, wherein the application program is for applying a plurality of imaging effects to captured images. The method and system include selecting one of the captured images, and applying the plurality of effects to the selected image to provide a plurality of preview results. The selected image is then displayed in a portion of the display along with the plurality of preview results, which are displayed as an aligned set of application specific items, to thereby provide a real-time preview of each type of effect applied to the selected image. The user may then scroll from one application-specific item to the next in the aligned set by pressing the first navigation button in order to select one of the effects to permanently apply to the selected image.
According the second aspect of the present invention, the user interfaces of software applications are unified with the digital imaging device user interface so that users accustomed to the operation of the digital imaging device do not have to learn a different, more complicated user interface. In addition, the application user interface conforms to the limited size LCD and makes the operational characteristics of different application programs run on the digital imaging device to be extremely simple and intuitive. Thus, the simplified and intuitive interface of the present invention effectively broadens the market of complicated imaging software to novice users.